When the NHL season opened, the Edmonton Oilers had familiar expectations — maybe they’d improve a little finally, but still long shots for any real great success.
Fast forward a couple of weeks and here we are, with the Oilers rocketing upwards, both in the NHL standings and on odds boards.
According to oddshark.com, the Oilers came into the season opening with 75/1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup, right there with Colorado, Toronto and Vancouver. Pretty standard right? Well, if you look today, Edmonton’s odds have shot to anywhere between 8/1 and 12/1 depending on which site you use, putting them in the same company as the Chicago Blackhawks, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Through nine games, the Oilers hold a 7-2-0 record, good enough for first place in the West and second place behind just Montreal in the entire NHL. Of course, they’ve been helped along by the league’s leading scorer, Connor McDavid, and some excellent goaltending by Cam Talbot.
But Edmonton among the favourites to win the NHL’s top prize?
Could this really be the year?
